Legacy of a Lady

This time of year, Central Texans naturally turn their minds and senses to native wildflowers — bluebonnets, pink evening primroses, Mexican blankets, lemon mint and more — that bloom in fields, yards and along roadsides. For many Texans, these scenes remind us of the late Lady Bird Johnson, our first environmentalist first lady, who encouraged the proliferation of indigenous flowers and sustainable landscaping. She did that in part by rewarding highway department engineers for integrating sustainable landscaping into their road designs. For years, she hosted a big barbecue at the LBJ Ranch for the winning designers.

What better way to leave, as a part of her legacy, the Ladybird Wildflower Center in Austin. The Center is not only a great Sunday stroll, but their website is a great resource for ideas on native plants and sustainable landscaping. You can find the site at wildflower. org. Here you can meet Athena, the Wildflower Center’s resident great horned owl, who can be watched live on the Owl Cam from the website’s Pressroom.

Navigating to the Plant Information link, you can look up a specific plant. If you’re looking for something non-native, like Ligustrum, you won’t find it here. You can enter either a common name for a plant or its scientific name if you know it. Each entry for a plant gives a very thorough description, including plant characteristics, bloom information, distribution, growing conditions, benefit, value to beneficial insects, propagation, and much more.

What does this have to do with Keeping Wimberley Beautiful? Well, the more we can learn about native plants and sustainable landscaping, the more we can do to improve our local landscaping in neighborhoods and parks, improve water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, and enhance human health and happiness of our residents. What can be more beautiful than that!